March 21, 2012

US announces Vietnamese shrimp's anti-dumping duty review results

The preliminary results of its administrative review (POR6) on anti-dumping duties for frozen shrimp imported from Vietnam have been announced by the US Department of Commerce (DoC), according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Accordingly, anti-dumping taxes levied on products from the Minh Phu and Nha Trang seafood companies were slashed to 0%. Camimex Co will enjoy a tax rate of 0.8% while 31 other companies are taxed at 1.03%. Remaining exporters nationwide would still be subject to a general duty of 25.76%.

The new rates would be applied to shrimp batches exported to the US between February 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011. This is the third consecutive time that Vietnamese enterprises received a tax reduction.

If preliminary results remain unchanged, Minh Phu Corp would be the only company to enjoy a sharp tax cut, from 1.15% in POR5 to 0% in POR6.

The DoC also announced the POR6 for Thai and Chinese shrimp imports. Thai exporters enjoyed tax rates of 0.97% to 1.98%, while Chinese companies were subject to rates ranging between 0% and 112.81%.

VASEP said shrimp would continue as the leading export product on the domestic seafood industry this year with an expected value of over US$2.5 billion.

In the first two months alone, shrimp exports reached about US$250 million, up 3.2% over the same period last year, with current signs indicating that exports were bouncing back across most markets. The association added that shrimp and tra fish exports declined by 36.3% in Germany and 21.1% in France.

Last year, domestic shrimp was exported to 91 markets with a total turnover of US$2.4 billion, increasing 13.7% over the previous year, according to VASEP. Japan remained the leading market, consuming over US$600 million and representing a market share of 25.3%.